Egypt headquartered Unatrac Group, a subsidiary of the Mansour Group, has announced that Unatrac IT Distribution has exited the UAE IT distribution sector, nine years after the company set up base in Dubai's Jebel Ali Free Zone.

The company confirmed the development in a statement to Channel Middle East that the IT distribution slice of its operations in Dubai represented less than 2% of the group's annual turnover hence the decision to withdraw from the local market.

Mohamed Hassan, group marketing director, Unatrac Group said: "We would like to confirm that we are divesting our IT distribution activity in Dubai. The IT distribution portion of our operations in Dubai is a non-core business that represents less than 2% of the group's turnover and has proven to be of low margin hence the company's decision. This will help enable the group to focus on its core higher margin business to better serve its clients in the region and across the globe."

Company Articles

He said following this development, the group has made Jebel Ali the company's main trading hub and redomiciled the parent company of the group from Egypt to Dubai. "We operate a 40,000 square metres warehouse in the Free Zone, through which we manage our East Africa and Iraq Caterpillar business," he said.

Industry sources familiar with the matter that spoke to Channel Middle East on condition of anonymity said Unatrac IT Distribution's departure from Dubai will hamper Dell's commercial push in the short term in the Middle East region as the company was one of the biggest distributors in the region for the commercial business.

Following the departure of Unatrac IT Distribution from the local market, Dell's commercial business is now being distributed by Mindware and Ingram Micro's Aptec.